Sweet dreams
by hannahtail
Summary: "Not all dreams are happy, sometimes they are showing you fear, sadness or emptyness, but more importanly they reveal you a part of yourself." Dusty is having a nightmare and our little hero needs someone to comfort him.


There was some certain things that every person who belonged in a team and wanted to be considered as a member had to follow them. Most importantly for their on safety. However, when the subject was about mentally safety, many things had to be done, so the team member could achieved to connect with the other members.

Of course, Dusty was aware of that. Since he had a racing career to care about. He has from first experience knew how hard was to earn someone's approval, if there was no will power and more or less actions based on it, then don't even think about complaining, since, if you only work put a lot of hard on what you wanted, you will receive the desirable results.

"Dusmuffin'! Can you tell me a story of your racing time?" The tall, blonde girl said while walking in front of her idol, trying to show for one more time her interest in him, in the most acceptable way she could.

The young shorter man smiled at her awkwardly, he tried not to show it, but his nervous laugh betrayed him. He tried to change the subject just so he could avoid having a small talk about himself, especially with Dipper, the young man didn't hate her for asking him questions it was natural of her, but it could be tiring from time to times.

"Well, I really think that there is not a single story I haven't told you..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh common, Dusty, I'm sure that you have something left to tell!" Dipper insisted.

"I don't know..."

"Oh! Oh! What about your first race in WATG?! Yeah that one!" The tone of her voice sounded more like ordering him, than actually asking him. Whatever the reason, he decided for one more time to tell her his stories, he knew what this was spoiling Dipper more, but if he didn't she wouldn't let him sleep. And this was one of the least things he enjoyed in being famous.

"Okay, okay! You won, but let's first go back to the base and then my hangar, I don't like talking in public about my life that much!"

"Roger that!" She cheered and then followed grinning at her win.

Shortly afterwards, the sun had set off and the night sky slowly painted everything in a cooler dark shade. Both Dusty and Dipper arrived in the base before everything was too dark. And now they were in Dusty's hangar talking about some random things, a simple distraction Dusty used on purpose, trying to made Dipper changed the subject by herself, didn't work.

"C'mom! Dusty tell me everything from your experience in WATG rally! I want to know it all!" She cheered again ignoring, Dusty's sigh in Defeat.

"Okay, I'll tell you just stay silent 'till I finish. Then ask me whatever you want." with that she sat silent and Dusty start telling her everything he thought she wanted to know. The whole time Dipper didn't do anything apart fangirling as quietly as she could. By the time Dusty finished there was no longer light outside. He noticed that and decided to ask Dipper to leave now.

"That's enough for today, you better go to your hangar now." his tone was friendly and calm.

"Just one more last question Dustmufffin', please...!" she gave him her best puppy eyes.

Dusty was really not in the mood but he was also exhausted, if this could satisfied her curiosity and let him finally be left alone so he could get a good rest, then he had no choice...

"Only one and then you leave I need a rest..."

"Yes of course!" she agreed without wasting time made her question"So you said that you met a lot of racers you were admiring back then, so what was your impression on them?"

Dusty was surprised by the question. He didn't think that it was something necessary that's why he didn't mention it.

"Well...you see I haven't the warmest welcome when I entered into the racing, most of them looked down on me for being a crop-duster or just didn't care much about me. Of course during the race I noticed small changes of attitudes towards me from others, some started to accepting and considering me as one of them meanwhile some others hated me even more." Dusty explained and Dipper remained silent waiting for more.

"Of course there was some racers that didn't care for that I was build for and were kind and supportive to me from the very begging. Like El Chumacabra a good fellow racer as well as a trustworthy friend of mine, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have made it in the race." he found himself smiling, however his smile faded when Dipper asked him a question he didn't expect.

"What about Ripslinger?"

"Huh?"

"Sorry for asking again, but really Ripslinger was one of the greatest racers in the history before you beat him, in the social media he didn't really seemed to like you...?" her curiosity painted her whole face and Dusty this time considered the question.

"I mean he looks kind of neutral, but he might be friendly and--" before Dipper was able to finished her sentence Dusty interrupted her and told her something she or any other fan of his didn't know.

"He tried to kill." Dusty's voice was flat, he turned his back to Dipper and took a look outside. He didn't know why he told her that. But he couldn't beard having her pitying him.

"Why?" even though, Dusty couldn't see her he could tell by her voice that she was astonished.

"I asked this question to...I guess not everybody is like what TV or social medias introduces to us."

With that statement this discussion came to an end and finally Dipper took the way to her hangar. Dusty watched her as she was leaving, before he closed the door.

After everything that had happened, Dusty finding himself sleepy from the extended discussion, he decided to rest on his bed. It was natural reaction from all this exhaustion to overtake his body and soon drive the young man into unconsciousness.

 ** _planesplanesplanes_**

Images, sounds, feelings all were so vivid that his mind couldn't distinguish between reality and delusions.

He felt like he was standing in nowhere, no one was around, the isolation combined with his breathing sound, made the whole scene more horrifying. He could hear his heart beat increasing and echoing in the whole place.

Suddenly all the colors started fading, they all changed into a darker shade close to black. The colors washed the place and created a room. Now Dusty was no longer standing in the nowhere, but instead he was in a room. The room had green walls. Each one had some stray liquids on it. Their color seemed like brown or dark red. The ground was filled with dirty water and trashes. The images was terrible enough for any sane human to ran skedaddle. However the worse part of it was the view of a dirty hospital bed and a dropped white chair near to a desk covered with the same liquids the walls had. And then there was the smell. An unbearable smell, which caused Dusty almost had the urge to vomit right there.

The last thing he noticed was himself. He was wearing his causal clothing. His white T-shirt with the number seven on it, his blue jeans with rips on it, his black converse all star and his favorite orange with white stripes jacket wrapped around his waist.All this made the young man more confused than ever, he had no idea there he was or why he was here.

He started wander in the room slowly trying to figured out that's going on. Small drops of liquids start falling on the ground causing small sounds echoing in the room. Dusty's attention turned to the wall, the brown liquids were making their way on the wall some of them had reach the angles of the room. Hesitatingly he stretched his arm on the wall and with his bear hand he came in physical contact with the strange liquids. They were sticky and had a particular metallic smell, which Dusty was sure he had smell it before. His eyes opened wide when he realized what really was these red liquids and he begun panicked.

This was blood.

he thought when his hands start trembling in fear. Quickly Dusty used his T-shirt trying to remove the blood of his hand. Taking small panicked breathes in. He saw from the edge of his eyes something moving. The young man slowly raised his head and astonished from what he saw. The blood on the wall had formed a sentence on it and Dusty read it.

 **HE IS COMING**

"Who is coming?" he thought out loud.

Without a warning he heard a scream. A scream very familiar. It can't be. He thought. Before he was able to considered his actions, it appeared that his body was making decisions on its own, as he was racing to find where the scream from. before he was able to open the door someone, someone never expected to show himself ever again, slammed the door and entered in the room uninvited. A tall man with caramel, black swept hair, hazel eyes and small goatee. He was wearing a green vent with hoodie and lining, which was covering a black blouse with rolled up sleeves, he had a purple belt supporting his black skinny jeans and his black boats were reaching his knees. The charismatic smile on his face confirmed the identity of this man certainly. This man was Ripslinger. There was no doubt.

Dusty felt like a deer in the headlights as the former Champion approached him with a steady pace. The young man wasn't sure, if the way he was approaching was threading or not. However this grin along with the unexpressed eyes of his. Was enough to made Dusty feel uncomfortable. Yet, he couldn't move a muscle. He only stepped back when Ripslinger came close enough.

"What it is like to be a champion, farm boy?" he asked, his voice was gravelly. Dusty didn't answered the question, instead he stepped back until there was no more space for him to move and his back touched the wall. Ripslinger, however, towered him. Trying to make the younger male fear him. Dusty for his place, made his best not to show any emotion, but in the end it was a meaningless effort, as his own body betrayed him and begun shaking uncontrollable.

"Wanna see what it really means to be champion?" Ripslinger asked and without any consent he showed him. Dusty wasn't certain about that happened , everything just faded into dust. He and Ripslinger was again in the no where. There existed nothing but blackness and silence. He took a look around to confirm if was anyone else apart Ripslinger in this place. He didn't notice any one, which made him worrying more for what's coming next.

"How is your friends, Farm Boy?" His voice echoed everywhere, before, suddenly a light appeared behind Dusty.

Dusty afraid of that he was a going to see turned as slowly as he could, despite the fact that he promised to himself not to show any sign of fear in front of Ripslinger. This time that his eyes met, forced out of him a petrifying scream. for a minute he lost his balance and fell down on the ground.

"It can't be..." he finally whispered after a long pause.

The young racer was struggling to steady his breath, couldn't take away his eyes from this unpredictable view. His friends. No, His Family. All of them, now were nothing but lifeless bodies. He tried to ignored the stray blood, which washed their bad-in-shape clothes. Dusty slowly crawled to them trying to find a sign of life in them. But it was too late. for all of them.

Shaking he closed his eyes as tight as he could, forcing any tear that threaded to fall in. However his saddened expression had been sewed on his face long time ago. He blamed himself. Not because he pitied himself, but because there was no one else to blame for this.

"It's my own fault..." he said brittle.

"That's right." Ripslinger acknowledged him "If you can't stand the pain of lose, then you never were meant to be the champion of this Race." Ripslinger sat down in front of Dusty. He was holding a knife in his right arm. He didn't do anything else just stared down on him. Dusty was confused from what Ripslinger said earlier, of course his terror had overtook him and he couldn't think straight at this moment.

"If you are weak, then why you ever wanted to be the Champion of this Race?" He Raised his knife in the air, nevertheless Dusty didn't move he sat there emotionless waiting for him to finish "So you know what is coming for the weak." and he was remaining still, waiting for the metallic object to cleave his flesh.

 ** _planesplanesplanes_**

Dusty woke up screaming and panting, his pajamas were wet from his sweat. It was a dream. He thought with relief. His cyan eyes traveled in every corner in the room. Exhaling air from his mouth he wrapped his arms around him trying to create a shield protecting him from anything outside it. Unlikely, it couldn't protected that was inside. He started trembling on the sicking memory of his dream. He was scared. Not only for himself but as well for the others. He wanted to at least make sure if they were okay. Immediately, he get of his bed and raced to the intercom radio. He found it very difficult to stand let alone wait from someone to answered to his call. After a several moments finally someone radio back.

"Kid? *yawn* W-what it is? It's 3 a.m...?" Thanks good it is Skipper! He thought with relief.

"I-I just wanted to see how you guys doing..!" He tried to sound less worrying and more curious or playful.

"In 3 a.m.? Apparently we are all asleep..." there was a small pause "Is there anything wrong Dusty?" At that moment he was struggling to stand and the urge to fall down caused a lot of troubles right now.

"Don't worry anything is alright, I'll let you sleep now, sorry for the bother!' Before Skipper was able to protest, Dusty ended the call.

He sighed and turned his attention back to his bed, attempting to approached it. His legs, however, had other plans and refused to move any inch from that spot. After a moment of struggling to attempt a single movement, his eyesight blurred and before he realized it he was unconscious.

"Kid are you awake?" A gentle voice called him. Dusty's eyes were still shut. And opened only when he was certain that no danger was around. His eyes met Blade's icy cold ones, the chief was sitting on a chair near his bed so he could be close to the young man. Blade was wearing his firefighter uniform, which hinted what he had just returned from the casual night patrol in the cliff. He used to return very late in the night. From times to times he didn't even sleep and just keep watching above the cliff 'till the morning. Dusty suspected that he had caused to his chief some kind of trouble, since he was in his bed again after his episode.

"You fainted, so I put you back in your bed, while you were still unconscious." He informed Dusty with a monotonous tone.

Dusty planted his eyes on Blade without sharing any single word. His body had been noticeably trembling since that moment. And the older man didn't missed that. He put his hand on the younger's forehead to examined his temperature. Dusty remained still, allowing the older came to a conclusion.

"It appears that you have fever. Not high one. " He took his hand off Dusty's forehead. "Ι'll bring you some medicines, if you want."

"No. I don't want any medicine right now..." The young orange haired man responded with a low voice."It's better to let it pass naturally..." At this statement, Blade considering the previous scene and the results now he had his doubts allowing Dusty to stay in this condition.

"So you are going to stay like this. You fainted and now you have fever. Not taking a medicine wouldn't be a wise choice." he counted the silence as a win and just went straight to the medical box. Brought a medicine and gave it to Dusty. The young man took it and blade watched him as he tried to rest. Truth to be said, the chief had his worries and it was uncommon for this time of season for someone to get sick or caught a cold. He wondered if the fewer was really due to a cold. Something didn't fit there.

"Do you have any suspicion about what caused you to faint earlier?" He asked, wanting to calculated what led him to this situation. Dusty lowered his cyan eyes avoiding any eye contact at that moment. He replayed many times the words he choose in his head, but he couldn't move his lips to form words. "Champ I need to know so I can help." The chief added after seeing that Dusty was hesitant.

"I don't think I did something that led me to faint..." he whispered doubtful.

"Are you sure? Did you ate or drunk anything suspicious?" Blase insisted.

"No..."

"Then explain me what exactly you did, before you the whole episode." he commanded and after a few second Dusty opened his mouth to speak.

"I-I just wake up and went to call my friends back in Propwash just to see if they were doing fine and while I was talking to them I felt a weakness in my legs. After that the weakness turned into dizziness and everything went black." he explained. Blade studied his words carefully.

"You might have low blood sugar levels that explain the loss of consciousness." He assumed. "I'll get Maru to examined you tomorrow. Now try to get some sleep." He was about to leave but before he got up from his chair Dusty mumbled under his breath something, which stole his attention.

"What?" He questioned the young man.

"I-I really would like go to sleep but I'm kind of afraid." he repeated quietly.

"Why is this?"

"I had a nightmare earlier and it left me a little mentally shaken..." at this sentence Blade narrowed his eyes in interest and sat back in his chair again. Placing one hand under his chin skeptical.

"Would you mind to tell me?" he requested patiently.

"I...I don't remember it clearly..."

"Whatever you remember then." he said with a steady voice.

"Fine." with that he tells his nightmare to his chief "It was a really vivid one. I was in a room, which it appeared like a hospital's room, only it was kind of messy and in a terrible status. There was blood all over the walls and the ground was filthy. I didn't know there I was. I was just wandering around and then I heard a scream and I ran to find it, only to met with one of my fellow racers, Ripslinger. He and I... are not bright good with each other. He kind of hates me basically because I 'stole' his spotlight. And he caused me a lot of troubles in the past."

"Sound like an arrogant to me." Blade commented

"He is kind of." Dusty agreed " Anyway, in my dream he found me and then he...somehow transferred both of us in a place that there was nothing me and him. And then he show me my friends...They all were killed by him. It...it was unbearable to watch them." his voice cracked at this point. "I was so scared and confused, I blamed it to myself, whatever happened. Ripslinger told me that I was right for considering it my own fault and then told that I am weak and shouldn't have ever win the race..." he remained silent slowly placing his hands around him trying to protect himself again from the invisible danger. Blade just kept staring at him without saying anything.

"You know I used to be a fan of his, before I entered into racing. And the funny thing is that I was too naive back the so I believed that he wouldn't do anything to harm me. I did it even after seeing all the signs. And then because of him I was going to drown in the ocean."

"He tried to..."

"Yeah, twice." he admitted "I'm still kind of scared though...he always was unpredictable, what if some day he decided to do anything to my team." He tight his hands over himself preventing him from shaking. "What if I am the only one left behind...What if I watch them all disappear IN FRONT OF MY EYES!?" the young man lowered his head and let his hair hided the stray sparkling tears. Blade felt his heart breaking at this point.

"So you were under stress for a long period, as a result you have psychosomatic symptoms. That's explain why you fainted and now have fever." he came into realization out loud. Since he himself had to deal with psychosomatic symptoms in the past he could distinguishes the symptoms then someone was experienced them. Dusty for his place seemed about to get a panic scandal. And Blade had to calm him before the whole situation led them to something troublesome. Slowly he stretched his arms to the young man and wrapped him, bringing him closer. Dusty stopped shaking.

"Don't worry it's over." He said in a gentle tone, while his left hand caressed his hair. Dusty was surprised by the touch. "Everything will be fine. It's over. I know how you feel I was in your place before, so I can say with certaintly, what you will be alright!" Dusty allowed himself to cry on Blade chest and let all his fears gone.

"Dusty, don't let people put their words into your mouth. You are you. You know yourself better than anyone. Don't let anything else affect you. Neither Ripslinger nor you nightmares." Dusty remained silent and hugged Blade as if it was the shield that could protected him from his inner fears and dangers. Blade stayed with Dusty in his hangar making sure to protect him from his nightmares and fears. Fortunately, it finally was a peaceful night for both of them.


End file.
